A man identified as Daniel, a psychiatric patient from the community "El paso de la bola," in Mayarí, Holguín, was found this Tuesday lying on the side of a road, naked and in such a severe state of malnutrition that he could not stand.
The report was published on Facebook by the activist from that territory, Adry Díaz, who received the photographs from a horrified eyewitness who was shocked by what they found.
According to the publication, Daniel lives alone and has no close family to take care of him. The complainant notes that he might have gone out in search of help, but his physical deterioration brought him down before he could reach any destination.
"It seems he went out for help, but in the condition he is in—God knows how long that unfortunate soul has gone without food—he collapsed by the side of the road and was still alive when the woman who sent me the photos saw him and, horrified, called for help," Díaz wrote.
The complaint is explicitly addressed to the Municipal Director of Public Health of Mayarí. Adry Díaz explains her decision to turn to social media with a phrase that encapsulates the widespread distrust toward institutions: "we all know that going to the government to report this atrocity is in vain."
Regarding Daniel's institutional abandonment, the complainant was straightforward: "the system that promised to protect him clearly abandoned him."
The case is not an isolated incident in Mayarí. The Mártires de Mayarí Teaching Hospital received serious complaints in 2025 regarding elderly patients who were naked, malnourished, and tied to beds.
In February 2026, local authorities acknowledged four deaths at that center in a single day, although a viral report mentioned up to 14 fatalities on that day.
In June of this year, reports emerged again about the deterioration and neglect of the Mayarí hospital, with complaints regarding the lack of windows and medications.
The pattern is repeated throughout the Island. In September 2025, there were reports of abuse and abandonment at the Psychiatric Hospital of Camagüey, with patients being restrained for hours and receiving inadequate food.
In June 2025, a patient at the psychiatric center "El Viso" in Santiago de Cuba, died amid accusations of neglect and hunger. In January of that same year, a young man who had escaped from the Psychiatric Hospital of Holguín stated that he had fled due to hunger and lack of care.
Behind these cases is a structural crisis in medications. In July 2025, the Minister of Public Health admitted that only about 30% to 32% of the essential medicines were available in the country, including essential antipsychotics such as risperidone, lithium, and valproate, leaving thousands of patients with mental illnesses without treatment and in a state of extreme vulnerability, both inside and outside institutions.
Adry Díaz closed her post with a phrase that captures the outrage of those witnessing this reality: "This is the silent genocide faced by the Cuban people."
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